South Bend Road Trip Journal: Day 1

It's finally here! The day that we thought would never come has finally arrived! While waiting for the last of our friends to get out of class, we killed time by painting up the car in green and gold window paint. We were just about ready to go before I realized I left my ticket at home. Thank God I live across the street from the school or else that would have been a horrible way to start the trip. I grabbed my ticket and my computer case and hopped into the back seat of my friend's SUV, armed with 17 "This is USF Bulls Country" stickers, ready to slap them on all the state border signs. Our tailgate equipment is all on board, complete with our charcoal grill built from an old Yuengling keg and mounted on welded metal, all painted green and gold. But, I understand that most fans are unable to make the exodus north to the game. Travel isn't cheap. Not to mention, neither is South Bend. Therefore, I want to share my trip with all of you, in hopes that you'll all appreciate all the things I'll be experiencing on this epic journey to one of the biggest games in USF's short history. In addition to reading my daily trip posts, you may want to follow me on twitter (@nascyUSF) to see some photos and experiences that didn't get to find its way into the posts.

USF Men's Soccer Takes on Georgia State

The Bulls open up their home stadium for the regular season as they host Georgia State (Picture: www.georgiastatesports.com)

After a big time win over Wake Forest last week, the Bulls return home to kick off their new home stadium as they take on Georgia State.

Georgia State enters the game with a record of (1-0-0) (played Lipscomb to start the season). The Panthers of Georgia State finished the 2010 season at 7-7-3 (4-6-1 in conference) and were 3-4-2 away from home, so they are a solid team to contend with. They scored an average of just 1.29 goals per game but also held opponents to 1.53 goals per game, so scoring will be low in this contest (lower than usual soccer terms). Let's take a look at the players to watch during this game. (game starts at 7:30 PM so get to the stadium and cheer them on)

USF Ladies Take on Vanderbilt

Coach Denise Schilte-Brown and the USF ladies hope to improve on their 2-1-0 record tonight. (Picture: www.gousfbulls.com)

The USF ladies (2-1-0) are looking to build off of their impressive 9 to 0 victory over Alabama A&M University, but will face tougher competition tonight (game starts at 5 PM) as they host SEC opponent Vanderbilt in the first game of the Dafeldecker Classic here on USF Campus.

The lady Commodores are 2-1 on the season, losing a 2 to 1 decision to Murray State on Sunday. Vanderbilt had a rough 2010 season, going 8-10-2 (4-5-2 in conference play) where they averaged just .140 goals per game (opponents averaged 1.55 goals per game). So far this season they are a well balanced team that plays solid defense, but still struggle on offense and has a true freshman in the net as well. Here are some players to watch during the match.

Five Ways USF Could Win or Lose to Notre Dame

It's almost game day, let's take a look at some of the reasons USF can win this game and come reasons they can lose the game just as easily.

So we have gone over every player on the Notre Dame team, from the long snapper to the starting defensive line players (might even cover the water boy next time) so what is our ultimate conclusion about this game? Can USF win, of course they can. Will they win, that is why they play the game.

To sum up all of our weekly chat about the game, here are five reasons the Bulls will win the game and also five reasons we will lose this game. As a fan, I support the team 100000% but it would not be fair to look through a tunnel and say USF all the way. We also have to look at the other side and see what ND could do to win the game.

The Mystery at Middle Linebacker

Just a few days ago, USF released its depth chart for the Notre Dame game, listing the two-deep roster for the game. While most of the positions were the same and no surprises jumped out to anyone, the middle linebacker spot seems be up for debate.

The Bulls released their depth chart for the Notre Dame game and listed as the starting middle linebacker was junior Sam Barrington. Barrington is one of the leaders for the defense and played at the middle position last season. Freshman Reshard Cliett was listed as the strong side starting linebacker, beating out senior Curtis Weatherspoon. Everything seems simple, but according to Greg Auman and Barrington, this is not right.

Barrington stated to GA that he was starting at strong side which would move Mike Lanaris to start at middle linebacker (Lattimore is starting weakside no matter what happens).

So what can we expect to see the field to start the game vs. Notre Dame? It would be very odd to see a freshman like Cliett on the field. Lanaris is very good at stopping the run and is physical enough to handle tight ends in the flat as well.

There is some question as to who will start at middle linebacker, but knowing Holtz, he will make the best decision for the team.

Big East Week 1 Picks

Hello Bull Rush fans. Last season, Jim (owner and lead writer for HailWV.com) and I had a competition where we picked the winners of each Big East game every week. It was a great way to keep track of how everyone in the conference was doing and also created a friendly competition on who knew more about the teams or who was simply luckier than the other.

This season, we are doing it again and Mike will be joining us as we place our bets and see who knows more about Big East or who has dumb luck. Here are our picks for week 1!

The 2011 Conference Realignment Project

With the clamor of football season opening up today and the uncertainty that came over us when Texas A&M announced its departure for the now 13-team SEC (probably), many of us have grown restless over what the future holds for many of our teams. A group of four 16-team megaconferences seems more to be an inevitability than a possibility now. So what does that mean for USF, and for many other schools?

Luckily, I've taken the liberty of projecting what a compilation of a bunch of megaconferences would look like, and I'm going to share them with you, starting with what would be the four BCS conferences after the jump.

Bull Rush Chat Reminder

Hey Bull Rush fans, this is just a reminder that we will be holding our first ever Green, Gold, and Live chat tonight! Just head to the main page and you will see the chat window which will be at the top of the page on the right side.

From 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM (Eastern) I will be taking your questions and comments about the upcoming Notre Dame game and other USF athletic events that are going on (it is hard to remember there are other sports going on when football is finally back).

This should be a fun way to interact with me, ask questions and exchange ideas on the upcoming season. I look forward to seeing you on the chat tonight!

How B.J. Daniels Can Attack Notre Dame

There is a lot of pressure on Daniels this season to perform and lead the offense.

Football! This will be the talk all week on every site, among every fan, and every enemy. College football has finally returned and the campus is buzzing here in Tampa as the Bulls prepare for Notre Dame. We have talked about the USF defense, the offense, and everything in between until we are blue in the face, but as we approach game day, one player continues to be the talk of the USF football team, quarterback B.J. Daniels.

Now we all know about Daniels. The physically gifted quarterback that can win a game on his own and also lose it just as quick. Daniels struggled last season in the first year under offensive coordinator Todd Fitch, but as they season went on, the playcalling adjusted a bit and Daniels was able to move more out of the pocket, used the option game effectively, and continued to work on his downfield throwing, something that improved in the win over Clemson in the bowl game.

So that leads us to Daniels and Notre Dame. From the talk of fans and people who know about USF, the consensuses is the same across the board, Daniels will either come up big vs. Notre Dame or he will continue to flounder and lead the team to a loss.

What can Daniels do to be effective vs. Notre Dame and lead them to a win? Here are three offensive schemes that will allow Daniels to be effective and hopefully notch victory number one.

Another Record Month! Happy September!

Thanks Bull Rush readers for another great month!
Let's light the tower green Saturday night!

What great way to end another month! Tuesday we had our very first back-to-back 1,000+ hit days and yesterday you all pulled off the Hat Trick! Three consecutive 1,000+ views days, in exponential fashion no less! Speaking of which, it's now September 1st, which means only two more days until our South Florida Bulls go head to head with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Matt will be doing a live chat later tonight so be sure to stay tuned for that while Mike is heading up with the rest of our USF family to see the game. In addition, to an amazing three-day run we'd like to thank you all again for shattering last month's 10,835 by an outrageous margin with a record-setting 25,858 hits!

Thanks for your support everyone!

This blog (formed January this year) originally started as a quiet inside joke between friends to vent our thoughts and opinions on USF sports. We're grateful to those of you whose encouragement in the beginning motivated us to make this blog what it is today and we appreciate those of you who continue to support our efforts. In the past month we've redesigned our site, added a forum, created an app, installed a chat feature, updated all of our pages, and published a whole bunch of new content. It's your continued support that makes this a fun and exciting experience for Matt, Mike, and myself. You keep reading and we'll keep writing; all USF, all the time.